Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) appeared on CNBC this morning where he said some of the tax cuts Republicans are considering in private are "ridiculous" and should be "thrown in the trash," but he also said he's "all in" for passing tax cuts.
It's hard to judge just how "all in" he is, however, because the conditions he sets for voting to pass a bill are impossible.
From CNBC:
"Look, I'm all in in closing $4 trillion of loopholes. And I'm all in for locking arms and having the intestinal fortitude to do it. ... If we do it right, and we do the corporate things we're talking about, I'll believe we'll get the dynamic score that is necessary to close that trillion dollars that I was talking about on the front end," Corker said.
"I believe we'll get it. It's got to be proven, we've got to have appropriate scoring," he added. [...]
Corker said Republicans will need to "eat the spinach" and "fight off the special interests" to craft a plan that sparks growth.
He added: "Some of the things we're doing, I'm sorry, are ridiculous."
So, like most Republicans, Corker still believes in magic asterisks even if he does hate Donald Trump, but their ability or willingness to close $4 trillion in loopholes is another matter entirely.
Even if you include dynamic scoring or "magic asterisks," the GOP's plan would still leave the country in the red. There aren't enough loophole to close and, of those that exist, the GOP won't be willing to close most of them.
Right now we can only discuss these things in the abstract because there is no bill yet, but there will be a bill fairly soon. My gut says their bill will be a fucking dumpster fire that will piss off virtually every constituency there is. You know, except Wall Street.
I'm sure most people probably expect Corker will cave and vote for whatever they decide to pass, but what he's saying right now matters because this is how the bill will be perceived by the public.